State of Fear Thought Paper
Terrorism is an extremely unfortunate subject that is nothing new to the history of civilization as we know it. Since the beginning of man, using fear as a means of control has altered many societies indefinitely. The Documentary State of Fear deals with the long war on terror that Peru was faced with. The living standards and right of Peruvians were very poor in particular regions of the country, and democracy seemed non-existent. The need to gain political power within the Peruvian region seemed to be the primary factor causing corruption and terror to thousands of people, and I will be discussing the relationship between democracy and security. The levels of human rights and social conditions were at an all-time low in the 1980’s as powerful regimes brainwashed Peru’s citizens as to what changes needed to be made for the country.
We start the discussion of the documentary in Peru, where living conditions were extremely harsh for a majority of its inhabitants. A man named Abimael Guzman was the leader of a terrorist organization named the shining path. The ideology of Guzaman was to increase the living conditions of Peru’s poor members of society by recruiting an army to use violence against the Peruvian government to change the way of life. The problem was faced here was that Guzman was a very powerful leader, and gained enough hype throughout regions of Peru for its citizens to start a revolution. The Peruvian government was very corrupt at the time and the shining path used guerrilla warfare tactics to cause chaos in Peru. This all began because the Peruvian government was an incomplete democracy that ignored human rights of Peruvians. The upper-class white Peruvians controlled all of the money and education in Peru while limiting the rural Indian population ability to advance and prosper. Terrorist attacks and the most inhumane forms of violent started to appear as the shining path grew, as they recruited young teenagers from the towns in the mountains of Peru. The real theme of the documentary covers the indisputable fact that Peru democracy was eroding causing corruption and violence in the society.
The president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori responded to the terrorist groups by dissolving the congress of Peru in for to aggressively strengthen security from the violence. The problem as I mentioned deals with the imbalance of Security and democracy. As most corruptions arises from some sort of political gain, Fujimori won over the general public of Peru to fight off the Shining path, however he caused more problems himself. He mandated Peru’s military to detain anyone who might be involved with the Shining Path, and this led to the imprisonment of thousands of innocent civilians who were violated with torture, rape, harassment and death. I feel the key issues herein the documentary is that is explains how the consequences of democracies battling terrorism by erasing Peru’s main occupants, but while they did this, it did not dismiss the amount of damage that the Guzman regime brought to Peru. While Peru’s citizens thought that Fujimori has the better interest to fight this terrorist organization, they were oblivious to the fact that Fujimori’s greater plan was the formation of a dictatorship resulting in the power for him to elude the rule of common law and punish his political opponents into a nation choosing security over freedom.

The foundations of insecurity lay within the elimination of access to power and resources such as money and education. The brighter more desirable form of human security highlights the protection of people from threats such as terrorism and violence, while promising safety and the empowerment against social threats to citizens of Peru. When discussing what democracy is, we must remember that it allows protection of people through governmental and institutional safeguard highlighting equality for the law. The progress of human rights is critical in the changing outcomes like education and livelihood. Clearly, Peru was faced with uncertainty and the ability to balance security and democracy when a state of fear was upon them. While the shining path relied on violence to gain social control, the government abused its powers to eliminate any form of democracy.
My immediate reaction to the documentary was very upsetting. Corruption and terrorism had truly changed the entire country’s way of life. From the findings of the PTRC, there was the discovery a lack of remorse and sympathy for human life. To know and hear about the women that were violated and mistreated was extremely upsetting and morbid. I feel the purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to come in and evaluate the overall impact that corruption ad terrorism has caused. Their job is to hold meetings and hearings about what wrongdoings were committed and to give thorough plans for reparations and institutional reform in Peru. It is hard to be optimistic and say that that the Truth and Reconciliations Commissions will give closure to the extreme social problems that Peru was faced with, but it gives some light and confidence to the social structure allowing Peruvians to move forward as opposed to moving on.
Globalization has affected Peru tremendously because they now have the ability to be connected with worldwide organizations allowing each other to work together to work towards a more prosperous way of live and strengthen the social context of the country. I feel that globalization relating to communication has effectively allowed many countries that are in any form of struggle to seek guidance from an outside source to advance. I hope know that through globalization, Peru has maintained a prosperous social structure to allow wellbeing for all of its citizens. Regarding the need to apply a gender perspective to international human rights law, this is so that we may broaden and strengthen the scope of protection rights. When such terrible events unfold like the terrorism in Peru and the raping of women, we need to confidently be able to label what is wrong to be able to properly put those in the wrong accountable. The political climate in Latin America is very upsetting, and for a long period of times (and still today) women are oppressed in many societies because men have labeled them inferior. This is exactly what needs to change and stronger efforts for equality need to be formed in order to prosper as a society as a whole.
In conclusion, democracy and security go hand in hand, however as we have seen, it is not always easy to balance these two just as I learned from the documentary. With globalization and continues efforts from organization such as the TRC, struggling countries can seek guidance to build proper social and governmental structure.